Rapid deposition of high-quality silicon-oxinitride waveguides

Planar silicon-oxinitride (SiON) waveguides have been deposited onto a thermally oxidized silicon substrate at temperatures of about 300 degrees C using a PECVD-process with SiH/sub 4/ and N/sub 2/O. A high deposition power of 500 W ( approximately=1.6 W/cm/sup 2/) leads to deposition rates of up to 1000 nm/min. The variation of the refractive index across a 4 in wafer was less than 1% and the absorption at 633 nm was less than 0.6 dB/cm. The influence of the deposition power on the refractive index and chemical composition was investigated using Auger-measurements and high-temperature (1060 degrees C) annealing.>